JVS CEO's Blog

Career ladders have long been pursued by sophisticated workforce development practitioners as a way to enable lower level employees in a company better navigate and attain higher level positions in a company. In theory, fully developed career ladder programs pull together well mapped progressions of jobs,

Last Wednesday was a challenging and inspiring day at JVS. We spent much of the day visiting classes and re-assuring students that classes wouldn't end tomorrow and that we would continue to help them learn English, acquire job skills, prepare for college and achieve the American dream. We told them that we've been doing this since 1938, and we certainly wouldn't be stopping now. While we could not guarantee them that their families and friends would not feel the repercussions of the election, we promised them that they would continue to find a safe and welcoming place here, where they can achieve their ambitions and fully utilize their talents.

Workforce development has traditionally focused on providing individuals with education, skills and opportunities to secure employment. With unemployment approaching 4% and income inequality reaching historic proportions, we have arrived at an important inflection point for the workforce development field. Job quality (defined as a combination of wages, hours, and benefits) may be as - if not more - important a goal for the workforce development field than employment alone.

At our Economic Opportunity Forum this week, Carbonite CEO Mohamed Ali, suggested that the skills gap facing our nation is such a looming crisis that we need a wake-up call as we have had with global warming.